Wallander

Sir Kenneth Branagh returns to PBS stations nationwide in his Emmy-nominated role as Inspector Kurt Wallander for a final run of the beloved mystery series Wallander beginning on Sunday, May 8.

Based on the novels of the late Henning Mankell, the series’ fourth and final season will be comprised of three feature-length episodes – The White Lioness, A Lesson in Love and The Troubled Man – as Wallander is forced to face toughest battle yet as he starts to lose his memory. His greatest fear is that he is succumbing to the same disease that felled his father: Alzheimer’s.

Despite his concerns, Wallander keeps burning his candle at both ends, dodging knives, bullets, vicious dogs, homicidal motorcyclists, and a sense that he is losing his focus. Will mishap, medical leave, suspension, or a well-earned retirement be his final exit from this punishing profession?

Our British Actors You Should Know series rolls on this week by profiling an actor that a lot of you will be at least passingly familiar with – because he’s in Sherlock, and we know how much everyone loves Sherlock. (With good reason!) But, how much do you know about the cast that’s bringing Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories into the modern age?

Since we’ve already covered leads Benedict Cumberbatchand Martin Freeman in this series, it seems only fair to make our way through the rest of the 221b Baker Street gang as we can. Up this week: Rupert Graves, an exceptionally talented actor who’s been working steadily in British film and television for over 25 years, so you’ve probably seen him in a lot of things already. You may just not have known you have.

Read on for some Graves-themed viewing suggestions and let us know what we’ve left off the list in the comments!

You should probably remember his actual name though, because he’s quite a talented actor with a diverse array of roles under his belt. And given the fact that he’s now garnered quite the online army thanks to his Marvel role, general good nature and focus on worthy charitable causes, it would seem that he’s not going anywhere time soon and will probably be making his mark on many more roles in future. (And it's the sort of acclaim that will be well deserved.)

However, Hiddleston’s career is made of more roles than just Loki. Here’s a look at a few of them.

Sir Kenneth Branagh is back on Masterpiece Mystery next month in the highly anticipated third series of Wallander. Based on the character created by best-selling novelist Henning Mankell , the soul-searching Swedish cop Kurt Wallander returns for three new feature-length cases, starting Sunday, September 9.

Branagh, who has been nominated for both an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his performance in this role, will be once again joined by Sarah Smart (Wuthering Heights) as detective Anne-Britt Hoglund and Jeany Spark (Tess of d’Ubervilles) as Wallander’s daughter Linda. Prime Suspect’s Ingeborga DapkÅ«naitÄ— is also slated to guest star.

In the new episodes, Wallander’s hard-won and fragile new hope is put to the test when the most brutal of crimes – and his own demons – are unearthed. Click through for a look at three just-released previews – one for each of the new Wallander episodes. The new mysteries are titled An Event in Autumn, The Dogs of Riga and Before the Frost.

They look pretty good! Click through to get your first taste of Wallander Series 3 for yourself.

Exciting news - the BBC has released the first trailer for Wallander Series 3!

Kenneth Branagh returns to his BAFTA-winning role as Inspector Kurt Wallander in three new feature-length episodes, based on Henning Mankell’s best-selling novels. In the newest set of mysteries – entitled An Event in Autumn, The Dogs of Riga and Before the Frost – the somber detective’s hard-won and fragile new hope will be put to the test when he encounters the most brutal of crimes that force him to confront his own demons. (Poor Wallander; he’s got enough personal demons to start a Halloween shop.)

Click through for a first look at the new series, set to a wonderfully haunting rendition of Simon & Garfunkel’s The Sound of Silence. (BBC One just seriously puts out the best trailers sometimes, I swear.)

Heads up for Masterpiece Mystery lovers! We’ll be re-airing Series 1 of gritty crime drama Wallander in full tonight starting at 8pm, running all three episodes back-to-back-to-back.

If you’ve not seen this before, Wallander is based on a popular series of novels by Swedish author Henning Mankell. The series stars Kennth Branagh as titular inspector Kurt Wallander, who has been solving heinous crimes for his entire career while watching his personal life increasingly spiral out of control.

The series is a strange combination of dark, existential, complicated and gripping. Wallander is not exactly what I would call happy viewing, necessarily, but it’s certainly compelling and the mysteries that the Swedish detective must solve are all extremely well done and will keep you guessing through most of the episodes. That the show is a bit bleak is, in some ways, appealing – it’s very unlike most procedurals and mysteries currently on-air and that, in its way, is very refreshing. Plus, it’s a fantastic performance from Branagh in the lead role, and the supporting cast – including Sarah Smart, Tom Beard, Jeany Spark, Tom Hiddleston and more – is top-notch.

Click through for a preview and some details about tonight’s marathon. Enjoy!